Some quick thoughts on the Wizards bringing in Michael Winger

As you are waking up this morning, Monumental Sports & Entertainment is reportedly hiring Los Angeles Clippers General Manager Michael Winger to become the President of Monumental Basketball. The news was first reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

I literally woke up to this news because I was asleep when it broke. Kudos to Matt Modderno for that. I was getting ready for another day at the high school, trying to keep 11th and 12th graders semi-focused through the end of the year. I also am changing schools, but that’s not the topic of this piece.

The news of Winger’s arrival brings some questions surrounding the Wizards’ immediate future to an end. And in the short term, I’m relieved. There will be a legitimate, permanent front office executive overseeing the Wizards’ draft moves and offseason. Remember in 2019 BEFORE Tommy Sheppard was officially named the General Manager? He was the interim GM. Of course, Sheppard eventually got the full-time gig. But it doesn’t exactly feel the same when an interim or an otherwise non-permanent person calls the shots during the draft and free agency.

The biggest question I have is will he have a day-to-day Wizards General Manager while effectively being the President of Monumental Basketball? Many teams with an executive title like President still had another person with the nominal title of General Manager. That will be interesting to see in the coming days.